OREGON STORY BOARD OFFERS TRAINING IN HOLOLENS TECHNOLOGY

PORTLAND, OR – Oregon Story Board (OSB) is spreading the word that Portland is now recognized as a hub for digital and virtual reality production and that Governor Kate Brown has declared this sector as a primary economic growth industry within the state. That message got a lot easier to tout today with the announcement that OSB will be the first non-profit in the U.S. to offer Microsoft HoloLens training courses designed with corporations, entrepreneurs, and avid technophiles in mind.

The capabilities of the augmented and virtual reality technology are starting to impact many facets of American corporate activities as well as gain more traction with consumers. In 2015, OSB and its partners at Clackamas Community College and Intel were awarded an educational research grant from Microsoft to develop training in HoloLens for use in trade-based education. Students in those classes had exclusive, pre-release access to HoloLens technology, and to Oregon Story Board’s community of AR and VR industry experts.

Now, starting this spring, OSB will expand the reach of its training efforts with one and four day training sessions offered in its custom-designed computer lab, created specifically for HoloLens instruction, for students and industry professionals. “HoloLens is the current state of the art, for the next wave of human-computer interaction. If you’re a designer, or a developer, and want to figure out what is coming next, this is the space you want to be,” says Thomas Wester, former executive technical director at Second Story, and current HoloLens instructor.

Industry experts at the forefront of developing holographic applications comprise the instructor roster and students will have access to OSB’s extensive network of HoloLens knowledge and connections. The training is ideal for corporations and entrepreneurial entities keen on exploring the full gamut of this technology for marketing, content creation and branding purposes. Students can pre-register now, for classes that will begin later this spring at OSB’s state-of-the-art computer lab in the heart of beautiful downtown Portland.

“We see extraordinary economic potential in AR and VR development,” says Tawny Schlieski, Chairman of Oregon Story Board, and Client Computing Research Director at Intel Corp.“and we at Oregon Story Board are committed to empowering the next generation of artists and entrepreneurs to explore this exciting new technology.”

“We’re so proud of the job that Oregon Story Board is doing in raising the profile of Oregon as a hub for digital storytelling,” says Tim Williams, Executive Director of The Governor’s Office of Film and Television. “This curriculum is just the latest example of leading that charge.”

Oregon Story Board

In 2013, Oregon Story Board was founded to support the collection of companies and talent that make up Oregon’s ever-growing creative digital landscape. The organization is dedicated to advancing the digital storytelling economy through strong community, a diverse workforce, and a thriving industry. With the support of the Portland Development Commission, OSB is located in a new 4,000 square foot office space in Portland’s beautiful Old Town neighborhood.